US Senator Mary Landrieu will urge Pentagon to investigate alleged campaign by Corps of Engineers to attack its critics

Photo courtesy of Vera and her son MarkAt 11am Tuesday June 23, 2009, Sandy Rosenthal prepares to enter the Hale Boggs building in downtown New Orleans to hand-deliver a letter to Laverne Saulny, Regional manager for US Senator Mary Landrieu.

This morning I was very lucky to get a parking spot right next to the Hale Boggs building and in the shade! It was 90 degrees this morning at 11am. A very nice lady and her son took a picture of me before I brought my letter up to the tenth floor.

Laverne Saulny was out, but Sara the Intern put my letter on her desk. At the exact same moment, a copy of the same letter was being hand-delivered by courier in Washington DC to Senator Mary Landrieu.

Our letter urged our senior senator to conduct an investigation of the Army Corps of Engineers' alleged coordinated abuse of public forums. Our call came after we received a 3-page affidavit with revelations about an apparent campaign of disinformation by a group of about 20 employees at the Corps over a 3 year period regarding the failure of the flood walls and levees during Katrina and in response to any critical discussion of the Corps' failures.

I am so very pleased to announce on my Nola.com blog that just 4 hours later, Senator Landrieu issued a statement in direct response to our call:

"I am very concerned by the reports that a number of Corps employees have engaged in a disingenuous campaign to undercut their critics in Louisiana. My staff and I will continue to review these allegations and will urge Pentagon officials to thoroughly review this matter."